The Walking Dead

The Complete Third Season

Police officer Rick Grimes leads a group of survivors in a world overrun by zombies. The series explores how the living are changed by the realization that those who survive can be far more dangerous than the walking dead.

Comment

The show is still incredibly well done and well written. It is starting to suffer from writers running out of ideas however, and is becoming more of a zombie killing flic - which was never what I loved about it. In this seasons, they killed off one of the characters I loved, and therefore any ability to resolve what I think was one of the more meaningful potential set of relationships - but it does highlight the reality of loss when living in a world where people die far too young. They also killed off one of the characters I hate - FINALLY! thank you for that! But there is still a second character I hate that they haven't killed off. But, when there are two characters you HATE and you still keep coming back for more, you know it's good. If you are going to enjoy this, you have to be able to stomach decaying zombie faces and frequent scenes of beheadings, heads being stomped and splatted like a watermelon, etc. That really amped up this season.

It wasn't quite as good as the first two seasons for me, but it was still very good and I'm definitely still hooked. I didn't like Andrea at all, and other than his vile bigotry, I found that Merle added something (trouble) to the mix. I'll certainly stick with this series right through to the final chapter.

What makes the Walking Dead series stand out in the zombie film/TV genre, is the script writer pitches humans against humans, in addition to humans against zombies. This opens the story up to a range of emotions: love, hate, revenge, righteousness, evil, etc. Coupled with good make-up effect, you have a winning formula for a long-running horror series. Some key characters are killed off in each season, and new characters - very interesting ones - are introduced. Acting is top-notch. No wonder my family, and many others I am sure, just can't stop the addictive viewing process once it has begun.

I'm trying to figure out why this series is so compelling and must-see viewing. I think it's the characters, acting and storylines which incorporate more than basic good vs. evil into the story. It's the shade of meaning, making life decisions, when there's more nuance than just right vs. wrong. The writers have the chosen to present the characters with dilemmas which have excruciating consequences, no matter what they decide. For instance, most shows don't have the courage to kill off main characters, and though this can be painful for viewers, it's shows commitment to real character & story development. Can't wait for the season 4!